Oh, the hypocrisy.
James Craig, the former chief of the Detroit Police Department who is currently running as a Republican candidate for governor of Michigan, said he supports the Canadian anti-vaccination protesters who have paralyzed travel across the border with their blockade of trucks.
“I stand with the truckers,” Craig said in a statement issued Friday. “I support all working people who are standing up for personal freedom.”
It seems that if Craig is a defender of the right to protest, he is selective in his support, however.
In 2020, DPD responded with a crackdown when Black Lives Matter protesters, led by local group Detroit Will Breathe, took to the streets of Detroit as part of the wave of protests across the nation against police brutality, following the deaths of Breonna Taylor and George of Floyd.
Craig tried to get ahead of the situation. In a press conference, he said he supported the Minneapolis Police Department firing the four officers involved in Floyd’s death, and even went as far as calling it a “murder.” He also issued a memo to his department reiterating its use-of-force policy, which prohibits neck restraints, and also emphasized the importance of de-escalation in altercations.
Under Craig’s leadership, DPD responded by issuing a curfew. When the protesters defied the curfew, DPD responded by firing tear gas and rubber bullets at them.
In another incident, when BLM protesters blocked the streetcar on Woodward Avenue, DPD again responded with force. …